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    Trade Secrets Law & Litigation

    Trade secrets – confidential information unprotected by patent, copyright or trademark laws – are often among a company’s most important assets. Our global footprint, experience in many forums and expertise across a diverse array of technologies and industries position our trade secrets litigation lawyers to handle the enforcement or defense of trade secrets claims of any stripe.

    We represent clients as plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of trade secret matters involving allegations of outright theft, employee raiding, improper disclosure of proprietary information and related counterclaims.

    Through our technical knowledge and litigation expertise in federal and state courts, the US International Trade Commission and national and international arbitration forums, we provide our clients with the right blend of talent for the modern era of high-stakes, high-tech trade secrets litigation. 

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    • Solid-state battery technology entity – Plaintiff’s counsel in trade secret action against an emerging growth EV company developing its own competing solid-state battery, and former employees who stole and provided key trade secrets. A temporary restraining order (TRO) was secured at the action’s onset, a fully litigated preliminary injunction, and finally a permanent injunction as part of a confidential settlement following discovery.
    • Asia based, publicly traded pro AV/HDMI ODM and OEM – Defending a multiclaim lawsuit including claims for misappropriation of trade secrets under federal and state law; the claims for trade secret theft were successfully resolved in favor of our client on summary judgment.
    • NPO global data organization – Recently achieved a successful settlement in requiring a competitor to cease use of misappropriated information and cease efforts to develop a competitive product.
    • Research company and its three founding scientists – Successfully defended against claims of trade secret theft and breach of contract, winning a jury verdict on several counterclaims for US$19 million in compensatory damages and US$7.5 million in punitive damages, plus lawyers’ fees.
    • One of the world’s largest bioethanol companies – Defended in international arbitration brought by a competitor alleging trade secret theft. We counterclaimed for breach of the parties’ co-development agreement involving complex fiber treatment and pretreatment techniques required to extract ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass. We won the case following the final hearing/trial.
    • UK-based semi-conductor manufacturer – Represented in trade secret misappropriation and breach of confidence action in a Texas state court action alleging misuse of proprietary information pertaining to technology for inkjet printing of electronic circuitry. The action paralleled two other actions between the same parties before the England High Court of Justice. All actions settled favorably.
    • Major multinational engineering and heavy construction/infrastructure consultant – Represented in multiple unfair competition actions stemming from employee raiding, intentional interference with contracts and trade secret misappropriation regarding project materials.
    • One of the world’s largest manufacturers of high-end headphones – Represented as plaintiff in a trade secret misappropriation in Utah state court.
    • Manufacturer of industrial shaking tables – Represented as defendant against claims that its control software infringed the plaintiff’s copyrights and was the result of trade secret theft. After focused discovery, we demonstrated that the code was not subject to plaintiff’s copyright and that plaintiff’s trade secret theory had substantial holes, leading to a negotiated settlement on favorable terms.
    • Software company founder – Represented this client, who, after the company was acquired by a larger company, faced trade secret theft claims after the client asserted the company breached an earn-out provision from the sale. The case settled on a confidential, satisfactory basis.
    • Confidential client – Representing defendant in a €200 million LCIA arbitration concerning abuse of confidential know-how and breach of a non-disclosure agreement.
    • Mid-size German company – Representing in civil and criminal proceedings against a former employee concerning theft of trade secrets, including customer data bases.
    • German insurance company – Assisting in retrieving information from a competitor, which had been transferred from client to competitor as a result of a former employee using his own electronic device.

    • Recognized in IAM Patent 1000 2023
    • Recognized in The Legal 500 EMEA 2023
    • Recognized in The Legal 500 UK 2023
    • Recognized in Chambers UK 2022
    • Recognized in Chambers USA 2023
    • Recognized by Managing Intellectual Property as a 2020 IP Star (France) in the Patent and Trademark categories
    • Lawyers named as Client Service All-Stars by BTI Consulting 2020
    • Ranked as one of the top 10 US law firms for healthcare patent prosecution by Intellectual Asset Magazine and Ocean Tomo
    • Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America since 2006
    • Recognized by World Trademark Review since 2016